70 years ago today the Battle of Britain began.

It was, says Patrick Bishop, a triumph of national spirit - a time for
modest heroes in the air and on the ground'

This morning 70 years ago, on damp hills and headlands overlooking the Channel,
watchers from the Royal Observer Corps (OC
Ed) scoured the skies for the first German
aircraft of the day. There was no doubt that they would come. In the previous
week a tempo of violence had been established with formations of Luftwaffe bombers
and fighters attacking Channel convoys and land targets.

On Wednesday July 10, 1940 they arrived in force with the clear intention of
luring the British pilots into an attritional battle. Looking back, Air Chief
Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, head of Fighter Command, chose this date, "somewhat
arbitrarily" as he admitted in his victory despatch, as the starting point
for the Battle of Britain...